The present invention relates generally to thermal and compression systems used in the application of thermal and compression therapy to a patient's body. In practice, the wraps are connected to a thermal and compression machine that may supply compressed gas and a thermal fluid to the wrap. Generally, compressed gas may be pumped through a tube to the wrap while a thermal transfer fluid may be circulated through the wrap and machine by pumping fluid, that has been heated or cooled by the machine, from a reservoir in the machine through a tube connected to a wrap, circulating the fluid through the wrap, and allowing the fluid to exit the wrap through another tube which returns the fluid to the machine. An example of one such thermal and compression machine is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0257565 filed on behalf of Wilford et al., the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
More particularly, the invention is directed to removable wraps that are applied to a contoured portion or joint of the patient's body, for example, a patient's shoulder, ankle, leg or arm. The wraps include at least one fluid-tight chamber allowing for the ingress and egress of a fluid. The ingress of a fluid, which may also be heated or cooled, into the fluid-tight chamber applies compression and/or thermal therapy to the patient's body in the location of the wrap. Additionally, various layers of the wrap are sealed together at multiple locations, particularly within fluid chamber. The seals are arranged in patterns to form fluid pathways, and the size and location of the seals are varied so as to create multiple zones having differing seal patterns and thus differing fluid pathways. The locations of the differing zones ensure that the fluid pathways of the wrap remain open and prevent the wrap from kinking and terminating fluid movement through the wrap while optimizing the fluid and thermal transfer capacity of the wrap.
Compression and thermal wraps similar to the invention described herein have been in use for many years. For example, wraps constructed from multiple layers of fluid tight material and exhibiting fluid chambers having dot seal patterns are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0012169 filed on behalf of Wilford et al., the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. The wraps are designed to be applied an area of the patient's body where therapy is desired. Once in place, a fluid (either a gas or a liquid) is forced into a fluid-tight chamber of the wrap thereby applying therapy to the portion of the patient's body contacted by the wrap. Such wraps are often used in the treatment and prevention of deep vein thrombosis and injury recovery but may have other uses as well.
One shortcoming of previous wraps is that they have a tendency to kink and shut off fluid flow when placed on a patient's joint, or other odd shaped body part. Kinking may also occur due to the weight of the patient's own body resting on the fluid wrap, for example, in the case of an ankle wrap the weight of a raised leg may place pressure on an ankle and thereby block fluid flow through the wrap. In the past, the solution was to provide large fluid pathways through the creation of large dot seals in the fluid chamber. However, the larger seal pattern allowed for a large volume of fluid to enter the wrap. The large fluid volume heavily taxed the thermal capacity of the thermal and compression machines providing fluid to the wrap and also added considerable weight to the wrap.
As described in detail below, the present invention provides a unique solution to the aforementioned problems.